Asking Advice from a Pre-clinical Student

You could do it. But expect for a long-winded, circumferential attempt to deduce a diagnosis that is unlikely there. We may be a better search engine than WebMD, but not by much. See, our time is devoted to learning about the pathophysiology, down to which molecule went wrong. Patients don’t want to hear about molecules, they want to learn about how a disease might affect their lifestyle. When we hear hoofbeats, we look for zebras, instead of horses. I don’t blame our desire to flex our knowledge of medical science: we’ve spent a lot of time and money in learning the minutiae. But it’s going to be about how we translate these details into meaningful advice and content that patients can take with them.

For example, I have a family member who has high blood pressure and asked if this was a problem. Immediately I started asking questions: onset, is there pain, do you have shortness of breath, fatigue, any family history, any other diseases? And in my mind, every diagnosis under the sun becomes evident (could this be that case of pheochromocytoma I’ve been reading about?). I’m excited about the clinical years; it’ll be a chance to learn how to make the science meaningful to patients.

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TR

MS4 at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine

A native of the Pacific Northwest, TR studied international studies at the University of Washington. With absolutely no interest in medicine at the time, TR joined Teach For America, where he taught AP Chemistry in Detroit to the most incredible students. During his classroom experience, TR saw the parallels between health and education, and how his students’ lack of access to proper healthcare was dramatically affecting their classroom performance. He also saw how the effects of trauma were long-lasting and extended beyond the healthcare environment. He is interested in trauma surgery, specifically focused on urban communities, in hopes of providing accessible and quality treatment for disadvantaged communities.
Outside of the classroom, TR is involved as Student Body President. He is also a former Urban Health Scholar and Schweitzer Fellow. He is an avid runner, rower, beginner chef, and can spend hours explaining his love of cheese.

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